Brain health, good health

Finding motivation for keeping active and eating healthy is one of the most difficult things for most people. I would like to share with you some recent perspectives I found that may help you.

Staying active helps your memory: either by going to the gym, cycling, doing some high intensive workouts or just taking a 30-minute walk, your body will surely recognize the effort. The reason behind this is explained by Dr. David Perlmutter on his book Grain Brain, “aerobic exercise has been showed to reverse memory decline in the elderly and increase a growth of new brain cells in the brain’s memory center”. Exercise is not only beneficial for the body, but it also does wonders to the brain.

It will help you over the long run: Recently I learnt about Fajua Singh, a 105-year-old man that until this day still remains active and is perfectly lucid. In 2011 he was the first 100-year-old man to ever finish a marathon at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon! His secret is never overeating, maintaining a healthy diet most of the time (he has been a vegetarian for the last 30 years) and keeping physically active. More evidence of this is found in what is known as Blue Zones, which are Areas of the world where people live more than 100 years and still remain active, healthy and have a great life. Such places include Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Lomalinda (California), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece). Their secret as well is: healthy eating, keeping physically active, having good social and family relationships, complemented with having a sense of purpose. You can learn more about the Blue Zones on this National Geographic piece.

So try to start today by introducing a healthy diet, keeping active and establishing an enjoyable life. If you are not active yet, begin by taking 20 minute walks a day and eliminate one thing from your diet you know is not doing any good for you. The rest will start to come gradually and naturally as you see the results.